One More Time... (Email) 12.14.2009

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope that you are all doing very well. I´m doing well as well. I have actually been in the mission home all day, but before talking about today, I think I will explain the week.

We had a great last week! We did some more divisions this week to make sure Hna. Johnson met all the progressing investigators that we had found. She met about all of them I believe, and I know they are in great hands with Hna. Johnson. And.... guess who is coming here! Hna. Hedquist! I think she´s following me... jaja

Wednesday we had a good field trip in Allen. I worked with Hna. Legrow, who actually got to Allen when I left, and Hna. Schafer worked with the other sister. It went well. I was able to see the Peñalver family (Santiago Peñalver got baptized when I was there), Irene (oh how I still love her!) And a couple of other members as well. It went well. It was definitely dejavu (sp?) but enjoyable. A little weird. I´m worried about the Peñalver family. They´re really struggling. :o(

I don´t really know why we went there. Something new I guess. Maybe it was for me to help compensate for the fact that I didn´t have a last zone conference. jaja

We were able to teach Santa and Miguel again this last week. The last time we talked to Miguel he was kind of distant, but it was really different this last week. We didn´t share much, but we read a little from the Book of Mormon in 2 Ne. 5:27. They were happy because they lived the Gospel. Anyway, they both expressed how grateful they are that we are passing by to teach them, and they love it when missionaries from our church come by because they always feel such a peace in their house. Pretty amazing huh? I´m convinced that they´re going to get baptized.

Sunday morning we stopped by Gabriela´s house to go to church with her. She´s an investigator that Hna. Schafer taught when she was in the Limay ward before. Anyway, she initially said that she couldn´t go because her husband doesn´t want her to, but we convinced her into going for at least a little bit. This week was actually Stake Conference and it started at ten. But at nine they had a special meeting for investigators and recent converts. Anyway, she loved it. She stayed for like an hour, and I know she felt the Spirit.

Did I tell you all about Jorge and Conce? We found them last week as well. Jorge has some pretty serious health problems - depression. Anyway, he went to church on Sunday! It was a little miracle. He seems to have really enjoyed it, and ward members actually gave him a health blessing afterwards. Yay!

And now my favorite story for the week... yesterday Hna. Schafer and I had been knocking doors, and we weren´t having a lot of success. So after one door and told her that I just wanted to enter a house! So we suggested we pray, and ask for guidance. In this prayer she asked Heavenly Father to guide us to a family who needs the Gospel, and we promised to teach well, and to invite them to be baptized.

We decided afterwards to walk down a street, and we saw a man walking towards us. So we talked to him. His name is Daniel, and he explained that he was headed to work, but he believes strongly in God, and told us where he lives. Well, more or less. He told us the streets close by and described his house, since his house doesn´t have a number.He also told us his wife´s name, and we decided we would pass by later.

The minute he walked off, I looked at Hna. Schafer and told her, this is the family! So even though we had another appt. pretty soon, we decided to go and find this house. We found it immediately. We introduced ourselves to Cecilia, and that her husband had sent us to her house, and she immediately let us in.

We told her how we arrived to her house, and that Heavenly Father had sent us there. He knows that she needs this message. She listened, and then told us she wanted to tell us something. She just found out this last week that a loved one has cancer, and she has really been struggling. She hasn´t been able to sleep at night because she is so worried. She has really been praying for help. We assured her that this is exactly what she needs, taught her a little bit about the plan of Salvation, and Hna. Johnson and Hna. Hedquist are going to pass by this week.

So anyway, that was a huge miracle for me. I know that Heavenly Father has been preparing this family. And I´m so grateful that Hna. Schafer and I were working last night at /:00. That we endured to the end! I think it was a trial of our faith at the beginning of the day, but then a great blessing afterwards. The Spirit is amazing, and I know that Heavenly Father is involved in every detail in our lives.

So we got to the mission office this morning at 8:30. I had the first interview with Pres. Peterson. It was a great interview. I´m very grateful that he is my mission President. He is a very amazing person. I want to write down in my journal the advice that he gave me.

So today we have basically just been relaxing and hanging out. Pretty nice if I do say so myself. :D We´ll have dinner and some meetings tonight, and then I believe we´ll be getting up bright and early to fly out of Neuquen in the morning. We are going to be in Buenos Aires for like 12 hours tomorrow. Pretty crazy huh?

I love being a missionary! I know without doubt that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that He lives. I know that He loves me, and that He has plans for me. I know that we can have eternal families. We are so blessed to have the Gospel in our lives. Thank you for your continued love and support. It has made a world of difference in the mission.

So, I will see you all on Wednesday at 6:00! Please, travel safe! I will too. :o)

I love you, and the church is true!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Pincock

Christmas is Coming! 12.05.2009 (Email)

Hola! ¿Cómo están? So fun to read that you´re all getting Christmas ready at home. So fun. I love Christmas. To tell the truth, I´m actually very excited to have a good old, U.S. (LDS) Christmas. I´m definitely getting forward to the music as well. I love the music! :D

I actually don´t know if I´ll be able to write next week or not. I´m guessing that I´ll be able to, but I´m not sure. But, I´ll for sure be talking to you all on Wednesday next week. :o) I´ll be there with bells on my toes as well. :D

Aaron, I´m going to try to get my hands on some good Argentine recipes. The food is delicious!

Well, the work here is going well. We had another really good week. We´re working really hard and it feels great. I broke my personal record for the number of contacts during this last week. Yay!

We did some divisions this last week as well so Hna. Johnson can get to know some of the investigators. It went really well. It´s fun to work with different missionaries. Everyone has their own style. I remember when I first got to the mission, and my style always changed with my companion. When I was with Hna. Celis, I taught like Hna. Celis. And when I was with Hna. Riquelme, I taught like Hna. Riquelme. Now I finally feel like I have my own style. The way I teach changes, but I like it. I love teaching. It´s one thing I´m really going to miss... to go from teaching several lessons every day, to teaching... I don´t know when or where... but it´s okay. Can I teach FHE every once in a while? I´ll try to prepare good lessons. :D

We were able to find new investigators this week as well. It´s really a miracle to find all the people who are willing to listen. I have decided again recently, that there is a great need for sister missionaries in the world. I really think that sister missionaries can get in some houses that Elders can´t enter in so easily. Both sisters and Elders I think are very important.

I´m really impressed with Hna. Schafer, Hna. Johnson, and Hna. Passas. They are super hard workers, and really good things are passing here. It´s exciting to see.

Marianela continues to progress. We taught her the plan of salvation the other day and she really liked it.

We did have a mini FHE with Verónica and her family the other day. Making ¨waffles¨ ( that are really pancakes) took longer than we thought. However, we were able to share with the whole family. Verónica and her 3 kids, and her sister, Lorena. And then we also met her brother and sister-in-law. Successful I think. We need to set another appt. now.

Oh, we had another lesson with Santa, the investigator from the DR. We had set the appt. but got there with a member, to find that they were celebrating her daughter´s birthday! However, we were still able to share a little bit with them. So we met her husband and friend, and talked about the importance of families, and that the Gospel strengthens families. I was impressed that Santa was totally willing to let us ¨crash¨ the birthday party, and still talk to all of them. She´s great. I feel like she has a great need to go to church.

We also found a man named Juan this week. As we went to the first appt. he had a ton of questions for us. He wanted to know how our church got started. What a great question, since we almost always start out by explaining the Restoration! Anyway, it was a really neat lesson. He has a lot of knowledge about history, and so we understand a lot. Usually, we spend a good amount of time explaining prophets, what an apostasy is, the fact that Jesus Christ organized a church, with apostles and the Priesthood, and the fact that we actually need a church, and to belong to a church through baptism. Anyway, he already understood the basics, so it was really fun to teach. He went to church yesterday, so that´s great. I hope he progresses.

Oh, Hna. Schafer and I are going on a field trip to Allen this week! We´re just going to be there on Wednesday I believe, but it should be fun. We don´t know a lot of details. The assistants just called and let us know that we´re going. Road trip! jaja

I have started writing down things that I have learned on the mission. I have had a lot of learning to do. How grateful I am that we have this life to learn and progress. I have often thought that the mission is like a mini ¨life on earth¨. I´ll tell you about more of my conclusions later on, but it really makes me think.

I love the mission. I love that I get to teach people about Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father, The Plan of Salvation, and the the Gospel of Jesus Christ every day. I have no doubt that I was supposed to come here on the mission. Even though I had a hard time deciding whether or not to come, I am so grateful I came. I definitely don´t regret coming (Shari, you were right!)

I really don´t know where to start or end as I think about the mission. I hope that I´m a better person than I was when I left, and that I have been able to help others come unto Christ. I love the missionary´s objective: ¨Invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo a fin de que reciban el evangelio restaurado, mediante la fe en Jesucristo y Su Expiación, el arrepentimiento, el bautismo, el don del Espíritu Santo, y el perserverar hasta el fin¨.

In English more or less: Invite others to come unto Christ through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end¨.

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that as we follow His example, we become more like Him. We become better instruments in Heavenly Father´s hands. I love temples. Mom, I´m excited for your talk this next week. I feel like the temple helped me so much. I became much closer to my Heavenly Father through baptisms for the dead. And Jesus Christ. We are doing something for others that they can´t do for themselves. It´s like Jesus Christ. He suffered for us, because we couldn´t do it on our own. I am convinced that when every young adult, or member, is determined to be temple worthy, every day, their lives change. Our priorities change. Temple worship makes all the difference.

I love you all so much. I´m excited to see you all. Take care of yourselves. If I can´t write next week, remember to travel safe to Idaho. See you there! I love you!

Con Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! and Happy Thanksgiving! 11.30.2009 (Email)

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? It was good to hear from home as always. :D But Aaron, I must say, it was SO GOOD to hear from you!

Well, the week went by really fast this week. We were very blessed this week in finding new investigators. I think it was a little miracle really. We are actually in a section of the area where the sisters haven´t worked in some time because it´s farther away from the apt. However, I think there are a lot of people prepared there. Yay!

First thing interesting, we have an investigator from the Dominican Republic! Her name is Santa. Who would have thought right? We found her house earlier in the week, and taught her the message of the Restoration yesterday. Very enjoyable. She has been here in Argentina for like 9 years, but I was very excited to tell her that my sister lived in her country! A great lady, and she´s even married. :D

We also found an investigator named Marianela. We actually found her the week before, but we were able to teach her brother and mom this week as well. Marianela has two kids, 12 and 14 years old. Anyway, it went super well. Marianela´s dad passed away a long time ago, and they all seem to have some questions about that. It actually makes me sad, because the mom really believes that she´ll never see her husband again. And if she does see him again, she doesn´t believe that it´s possible that he´ll be her husband, or her kids father. Sad huh? But we´re teaching her.

We also found a lady named Veronica. She has three kids. Like 5 years ago she was baptized, but none of her kids were. We have an FHE planned with them tomorrow. We´re going to make them pancakes/waffles and watch a church movie with them. We´re excited about that.

Lots of blessings this week. We´re really receiving lots of blessings for doing lots of contacts every week. Yay!

Lets see, some funny things... Hna. Johnson and Hna. Schafer are constantly paranoid that they have lice. They don´t, but they always want that they check them for lice. So far so good. :D

Hna. Johnson, Hna. Schafer and I generally by things with a little less fat: low fat milk, light cheese, etc... and Hna. Passas is completely amazed. She thinks we´re crazy. She wants everything with all the fat possible. haha.

I´m eating my fair share of ¨alfajores¨. They´re like ding dongs, but different. I figure I have to take advantage of them while they are available.

We north americans are realizing that we like things that we didn´t eat much of before. For example, jam on crackers. They´re basically salt crackers. Or this cheese, that is like sour cream, on crackers.

The houses here are really different. Maybe it´s because we´re more in the central part. I don´t know. But I think they´re nicer than in Bariloche. And they about ALL have fences, with locks. Well, lots in Bariloche as well. Okay, maybe in all of Argentina. I should take more pictures so you can see more of what Argentina is like. And I don´t want to forget.

Okay, back to the ward. The ward here is really great. There are lots of return missionaries, and it actually makes a big difference in the ward. Elders and sisters. The Bishop here is really young as well. He and his wife served the mission in Chile. They got back like 5 years ago. They have two young kids. She´s actually from Uruguay. Anyway, we had lunch with them the other day it was really fun. A really good, young couple... with a lot of responsibility.

Dad, I think it would be neat to have you release me. Sounds good. :D

Today we are going to go bowling again. We´re going to meet up with other sisters here in the area, and I believe I´ll actually see Hna. Schwab, so that should be fun. Kind of ironic that we are all here in Neuquen.

I am almost finishing ¨Jesus the Christ¨. I love that book so much. I learn SO much when I´m reading it.

Well, I think I´m going to head out now. Thanks for everything. I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I´m so grateful for the simple truths that we take advantage of: we lived with Heavenly Father before we were born, Jesus Christ really is the Savior of the world, this life is a test, Jesus Christ is the Creator of the world, and the heavens are open. We have a prophet today, Thomas S. Monson, who continues receiving guidance, to guide the true church of Jesus Christ. How important it is to share our knowledge with our brothers and sisters in the world. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

I forgot! On Thursday we got together with Elder and Hna. Graves (the mission couple) as well as two elders, and two members, and had thanksgiving. Can I just say that it was SO DELICIOUS! Real North American, Thanksgiving food. I didn´t realize how much I missed it until I ate it again. Very fun. And I´m happy that Hna. Passas could experience a real ¨Thanksgiving¨. So so fun. Oh how I love our traditions! And very fun to reflect on what I´m grateful for.

I love you!

Con Mucho Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

It's Warm in Neuquen! 11.23.2009 (Email)

Hola mi familia! How are you all doing? Well, first things first... Dad, Happy Birthday! I have been thinking about you today, and I hope you have a fantastic day. Birthdays are good, aren´t they? Funny thing, there´s an hermano in Bariloche who was actually born the exact same day as you. The same year and everything. We jokingly said that maybe you´re twins. :D

Mom and Dad, thanks for the letter and pictures. So fun!

Well, transfer news! I spent Tuesday and Wednesday trying to get one last appt. in with investigators and members. It was good, but sad as well. Man how I loved my time in Bariloche. There are a lot of amazing people there. It was good to reflect on all the good things that happened there. Very enjoyable - stressful at times as well - but very good.

Wednesday night Hna. Makelani and I left together to Neuquen. She had to go to Neuquen as well to get her new companion. So I found out a while back that there are actually two sisters already serving in the Limay ward here in Neuquen, it´s just that there are four of us now! So when Hna. Makelani got here to Neuquen Thursday at 5:00 (yes, 5 :D) we went straight to the sister´s apt. A few hours later Hna. Schafer got here as well.

So, there are four of us living in our apt! Hna.Schafer and I, as well as Hna. Johnson from California, and Hna. Passas, who is from Santa fe, Argentina. They´re all really great. Hna. Johnson is actually a speech pathologist. She already got her degree and everything. Anyway, that´s just a side note. So it´s basically a party at night in the morning when we´re all together. ;o)

We weren´t really sure how to do it... split the area up or what. Because we have never shared an area before! But we decided to split it up, and then we´ll basically have divisions once a week or so, so they can get to know our investigators that we´re finding in our area. I think Hna. Johnson will be the only one that will stay here after this transfer, because Hna. Passas will be finishing six months here. Anyway, we´ll see how it goes. Hna. Schafer and I are basically working from scratch. There´s one investigator in our ¨area¨ but it´s going well.

Oh, Hna. Schafer was here before, so she remembers pretty well the streets. So it´s working out just fine.

It has been good to be with Hna. Schafer again. It´s fun to see the progress we have made since the MTC - especially with the language and teaching. I´m grateful for all the improvement we have both made. It´s true - progress is often sure but slow. But it happens.

Here´s a tender mercy... we ran into Hna. Makelani and her new companion on Thursday here in Neuquén. She was born in Mexico, but has been living in Las Vegas for like 14 years. But she speaks perfect spanish! So I feel good about the transfer - a little more at peace about leaving Bariloche.

Oh, and it´s warm here! I´m about in shock to tell you the truth. The first day I got here from Bariloche I thought, no, it can´t be! I´m walking around with a short sleeve shirt! It has been a while. It´s really beautiful here in Neuquén. No mountains, but very pretty. I had forgotten. :D

Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday! We are actually going to get together with the missionary couple and have a Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday since they´re here in the office in Neuquén. It should be fun.

So, I wrote last week asking about flight plans, because I really didn´t know how it all works. Then on Tuesday I was talking with an Elder who used to be serving in the office, and he said that they write to the families, telling you not to tell us about the flight plans. Oops! So I feel a little guilty now, but what can you do. I didn´t know!

So here´s a good story for you all... when I heard about transfers, and that I would be leaving Bariloche with just part of a transfer left, I wondered a little bit about how it would be. I had thought I would finish in Bariloche, so was a little sad. But thought it must be for the best. When I thought about this change, I realized that I might not have a final zone conference because of the mid-transfer change. So when I got here to Neuquén it came up with the other Hna´s, and sure enough, they already had their zone conference here. Neuquén is always like the first place, and then they move south.

So to tell the truth, I felt kind of bad that I wouldn´t have a final zone conference, but decided to not think about it. Then Saturday morning Pres. Peterson called, and he talked to Hna. Johnson and Hna. Passas, and then I talked to him. He asked me how I was doing, how I was doing with the transfer at this point, and to apologize, because he realized that I was the only missionary who wouldn´t have a final zone conference. He feels really bad about it. But I assured him that it´s just fine. I´m just fine. I had lots of other ones! But he assured me that this is where Heavenly Father wants me to be. So anyway, I really appreciated his phone call. I appreciate that he cared enough to call, and see how I was doing. I´m grateful for the Spirit who prompts people, to know how to help others. The church is true!

So last night we were able to go to a fireside that was by Elder Bednar and his wife, and Steven Snow and his wife. It was for all the members in Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It was very interesting. Really good. They did a question - answer session, for two hours! Elder Bednar got up first, explained what would happen, and they even put a phone number up on the screen so people from all over Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay could participate. It was pretty amazing. He talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the Atonment of Jesus Christ. He emphasized a lot the strengthening - uplifting power of the Atonement. I think I almost always think of the Atonement as a way to be cleansed from sin, but forget that there is a great strengthening power available through the Atonement as well.

He said that as members of the church we often say that it´s hard to live the Gospel. He said that it´s hard to live the Gospel if we try to do it alone. But we don´t have to do it alone! Jesus Christ is here to help us, and lift us through our trials.

Well, I had better be going. Thanks for everything. I love you all very much!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

P.S. I hope you´re all practicing your spanish! :D

Hola! 11.16.2009 (Email)

My Family,

Hello! How are you all doing? I hope that you are all doing really well. Sorry I am sending the emails to different addresses, and not to Aaron. The computer is having small issues, and I am having to copy your addresses and paste them in from your last emails you sent me. So anyway... sorry about that.

Well, we have had a good week! We have worked hard, and it feels really good. My favorite part of the week is... we did a lot of contacts! I always struggle doing lots of contacts. But, we decided that we were going to do it. The mission goal is 154 per week, and we did 156! Yay! So that was exciting.

We also had some good lessons with members this week. There is a member named Melisa Ganga in our ward. She is 21. Anyway, she is serving in YW, and we asked her to help us out with a few girls we are teaching - investigators or less-active members. So we went and invited Karen Ñancufil and her family. Their less-active. We invited her and her friend, Daiana. They seemed excited, and they went to the YW activity on Saturday! And something else interesting... we had knocked Daianas door the other day, and we talked with her Dad. He really didnt have much interest in listening, but was nice enough. Anyway, he drove Daiana and Karen to the activity Saturday, and we were able to give him a little tour of the church. It went well, and I think he has a little better idea of the church now. :D Hopefully Daiana will be able to keep participating.

Yesterday Mariahelem, Eduardo, Angelica and her daughter Pamela, and Pablo went to church. Pretty good, but we should have a lot more there. Slowly but surely.

Pablo needs a wedding date!!! Im pretty ready for him to get baptized. Hes so ready! The mission definitely teaches patience. ;)

Mariahelem and Eduardo are thinking that maybe they want to get married, so thats good. A good step.

We went with Melisa Ganga to invite two of Angelicas daughters as well. Antonela is 15, and Yamila is 13. I think if we can get their daughters involved the family will progress faster. It should be good.

Were working on deciding who is progressing and who really has serious intentions, and spending time with them. Those who arent progressing... we have to let go. Its so hard for me to stop visiting people because I have so much hope that it will click for them. But my job is to find and teach those who are prepared. Maybe their time is in the future.

Oh, we had a great lesson with Carlos and Ashelen the other day. Carlos always says that he's looking for the true church of Jesus Christ. We talked to them again about the church of Jesus Christ - that He orgainzed in His earthly life. We talked about authority, etc... We got him thinking. He agreed that we need a prophet today, but he doesnt know who it is. We explained the importance of the Book of Mormon, and that its the only way that he can know if this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. He admitted that in the past when he saw the Book of Mormon, he had already decided that its bad. But he promised us that he will read it with an open heart, really wanting to know if its true. :D Im so excited for him. Thats a huge step for him. We saw him later that night as he was walking to work and he had his Book of Mormon with him that he would read during the night at work. :o)

I'm excited about Ashelen as well. She is reading more in the Book of Mormon. We asked them at the beginning of the lesson if we need prophets, who can give us more of Gods word. Carlos said no. Ashelen said yes. She said that Nephi had written the plates, and that if he was a prophet, who wrote more, that the same thing can happen today. We testified that we have a living prophet today. Ashelen believes. I'm so excited for her.

Hna. Makelani received a letter today that she has a meeting the 19th in the mission home - the meeting with the trainers and new missionaries. So it seems to me that I'm headed to Neuquen. I'm sure we will hear for sure, and with more details, but I think my time in Bariloche is coming to an end. :o( But its okay! I have loved my time here, and I have seen lots of miracles. I know that things happen the way they do for a reason.

I have been thoroughly enjoying food with flour. Although I was eating flour before, not so much because Hna. Porter couldnt eat it. Yummy Argentine foods with flour. Oh, speaking of flour. Here they have a thing called facturas. They are like little rolls that have dulce de leche inside, or chocholate on top... like dessert rolls. Anyway, they are absolutely delicious, and everytime we walk by a bakery, you can smell facturas. Thats something I will miss. :D

Have you received a letter giving details about when Im flying home? Just wondering, because Hna. Makelani said that Hna. Schafers family got flight details. As for me, I have no idea. I know I leave the mission the 15th. Thats about it. I realized the other day that I won't be going to the Buenos Aires temple, because its closed. It's tradition that the missionaries go to the temple before flying home. But... the temple is closed for like a year and a half for repairs/changes. So anyway, thats a bummer. But its okay, there are temples in Idaho and Utah as well. I hope that a temple trip is in the plans for one of the first days that Im home. :D Oh how I miss going to the temple!

Well, I think thats it. I love being a missionary. I feel so blessed. I'm constantly learning and I always try to improve. I know that the church is true. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and that Jesus Christ is guiding His church. I know that Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today. Be careful, take care of yourselves, and I will write again next week. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Pictures! 11.09.2009

My Family-

1- Hna. Makelani and I the other day.

2 - Lucía, Me, Hna. Porter, and Melisa (two members here, but Lucía actually just moved to Zapala - where Hna. Porter went!)

3 - me dressed up in an Argentine Folklore dress. Good times. :D

4 - part of our zone when we went to the waterfalls.

Love you!

Hermana Pincock

Malolelei 11.09.2009 (Email)

Mi Familia,

Hola! How are you all doing? Mom, I hope that your teeth are doing better. The people here basically just have their teeth pulled out when they have problems. Dad, I´m sure you did great speaking in the institute. But yes, lots of speaking! Orrin, you´ll be getting your gallbladder out? Good luck! Shari, that´s great that you´ll be teaching the 16 and 17 year olds. You´ll be great. And Jordan and Lisa, I hope that you enjoyed Denver. I´m sure you did, and I hope you´re back safe. And Jordan, you certainly made me giggle - Melky Cabrera. I had Hna. Porter read your email as well, and she got a good laugh out of it as well.

Well, things are going really well with Hna. Makelani. So I doin´t really remember what I wrote last week. She´s from Tonga, a Polynesian island. She actually speaks Tongan, english, and now spanish - though I honestly haven´t heard much english from her. ¨Malolelei¨is hello in Tongan. Pretty fun huh? She´s 22. She has been in the mission for a year and one month, and is excited but nervous to train. She was with Hna. Schafer before coming her with me. She is the oldest in her family. Her dad actually lives in Australia with his family, and her mom is actually working in the U.S. for now. Before the mission, Hna. Makelani was studying in New Zealand. Pretty interesting huh? But she´s learning the area really well, and quickly. And yes,we do keep an area book. We don´t have one single map that has all our area, and we need to go pick up another map for her. The one Hna. Porter and I found is pretty much destroyed from lots of use, rain and snow. But I´m sure she´ll be just fine.

We´re working on putting baptismal dates so she and her new companion will have baptisms this first transfer. I remember when I started in Plottier, and I felt a little guilty that I was harvesting the hard work of other missionaries. So I would love it if her new companion could get here and have a bunch of baptisms right off the bat. There´s not a better way to start the mission than to have baptisms.

Lets see, a couple miracles of the week...We were walking one day in a neighborhood, that we haven´t worked a lot in. A lady told us she´s catholic, didn´t have a lot of interest in listening, but told us her neighbor loves talking to people from our church, told us her name and a little about her, and sent us to her house. So we went, (knowing her name), and they let us in. We then taught her (Norma), and two of her daughters ¨The Restoration¨and it went really well. She informed us that she listens to all the churches, but usually doesn´t let them in her house. Just outside. But she let us in because we knew her name, and her neighbor sent us over. A little miracle. I think they have great potential.

There is a lady named Patricia, that went to our church for like a year a while back. She and her husband spent a lot of time with other sister missionaries like 3 years ago. Anyway,they stopped going because they raised the bus prices and they couldn´t afford it. But a member told us about them,and we went with the member to their house. The lesson went well. We talked about the family, their goals for their little family, and assured them that the Gospel is the best thing that could happen to their family. We´ll pass by again soon. Oh, another miracle of that day is that the dad was there. He´s never there, but hadn´t gone to work because he works in construcion and it was bad weather that day.

Also, there´s a member named Viviana that lives in our area. She´s the only member in her family. So yesterday we stopped by, and got to talking with her mom. I have no idea how many missionaries have passed by their house in the past. Viviana even did the ¨mini-mission¨two times. But yesterday we talked to her about the Book of Mormon, and admitted that she has never read it. We assured her that she needs to read it, and she said that she´ll read it with us if we pass by. She said she won´t promise to go to church, or be baptized, but she will read the Book of Mormon with us. I´m okay with that for now. If she´s willing to read the Book of Mormon, the Spirit will do the rest.

Oh, Pres. Peterson called Hna. Makelani and said that her new companion should get here between November 19th and December 1st. So we´ll just have to wait and see. The ward here is so great. I love the people here. I think in every area I love the people more and more. I´m grateful for prayer, and the guidance that we can receive through prayer. I love the scriptures, I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Today I read Deut. 31:6 and thoroughly enjoyed it. I forgot about that scripture. Choose the right, and I´ll write again next week. I love you!

Love Always,

Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

General Authorities and Transfers :D 11.02.2009 (Email)

Mi Familia! How are you! I hope that you´re doing wonderful. Well, first off, I know you´re all eager to hear about transfers, so... I´m staying here for a while! Here´s the scoop... Hna. Porter is going to Zapala, and she´ll be companions with Hna. Schafer (my MTC companion). Hna. Schafer´s companion is coming here to Bariloche to be my companion, and her name is Hna. Malekani I do believe. She´s tongan! Here´s the tricky part. There are a couple of sister missionaries there in the US, who are waiting for their visas/passports to go through. They should get here in 3 weeks - halfway through the transfer. Hna. Porter is going to train one of them, and Hna. Malekani the other. So what happens with Hna. Schafer and I you ask? :D We are going together, to an area close to Neuquén. I believe it´s called Limai, but I have no idea if that´s how you spell it. So I really don´t know exactly how it´s going to work. We´ll get there together and be there together for like 3 weeks, and then we´ll end the mission together. So I don´t know what´ll happen to the area. But it should be good. I´m curious. So there you have it. It should be an exciting six weeks with lots of changes. New companions, new areas, home... it should be good.

Lisa, Jordan and Hallie are going to Denver this weekend? Well, have fun and be safe!

Well, I must say, that I absolutely LOVED stake conference yesterday. First off, Hna. Matsumori got up and spoke, and she did wonderful. She had a lady translating for her, but luckily I speak english, and understood every word that came out of her mouth. :D She actually even ended by saying her testimony in spanish. I thought that was neat.

Then afterwards Hna. Beck got up to speak, and she had a translator by her side. She said a few words in spanish, and kept speaking! I had no idea that she speaks spanish! I thought it was great, and the members were excited about it. It turns out that she lived in Brazil when she was little for like 3-5 years or so as well. So she speaks english, spanish, and portuguese. She did really well.

She talked about how Argentina needs to send out more missionaries. There aren´t many. I loved it, because it really made me think. People learn so much on the mission, and the church needs strong Priesthood leaders here in Argentina. Argentina needs good strong families. It talked about the responsibility of parents to teach their kids, and prepare them to leave on the mission. I absolutely loved it.

Brother and Sister Bowen, the area president and his wife, were here as well. They did really well. And Pres. and Hna. Peterson spoke Saturday night in the adult session.

Then after the conference we had a special training. The people involved in Relief Society listened to Hna. Beck, and with the primary, Hna. Matsumori. We listened to Hna. Beck, and she taught us five principles of leadership. So good. So so good. Then afterwards Hna. Porter and I went up to meet her and give her a hug. A really great and amazing lady. I learned a lot from her during the conference, as well as from Hna. Matsumori.

So Hna. Porter actually leaves here at 12:50, so I´ll be with one member, Melisa Onnainty for part of the day, and then my neighbor, Hna. Zulma, is going to work with me tonight, and have a sleep over with me. :D Hna. Malekani gets here tomorrow at 5:00 in the morning. Bright and early! Transfers are always exciting, and I´m excited for Hna. Porter. She´s going to be a great trainer.

Jordan, I laughed out loud about ¨melky¨. So bad! Thanks for your advice about ending the mission. It´s good. Hna. Porter has been telling people I´m ending the mission for like 4 months now. jaja

So, about here in Bariloche. Eduardo and Maríahelem moved back into our area! Yay! So they went to conference yesterday, as well as Pamela and Angélica. I think they all seemed to enjoy it. I have no idea why Pablo didn´t go. We have an appt. with him tonight so we´ll see what he says.

We´re trying to work more with members. I have decided again that it´s not only good for the investigators, but for the members as well. It´s good to get some teaching experience for them, and the opportunity to share their testimonies and explain why they live the way they do.

There are no Halloween traditions here, but everyone knows about the Halloween tradition at home. We were going to have an activity, but it didn´t work out with the stake conference and everything. However, I do believe that a member is going to send a picture to the fam, that he took of Hna. Porter and I one day at lunch (our halloween celebration). I gave him AK´s email address because you speak spanish. So if you get some random email, it should be from Hno. Gonzalez. I hope that´s okay!

We were able to contact a couple of our new investigators from last week, and we found 12 new investigators this week! Yay! It´ll be good to get working with them a little bit.

Jordan, your question about Obama. Everyone here dislikes Pres. Bush, and is ecstatic about Obama. They all think that he´s great. That´s about all I´ve heard. Interesting huh?

Well, I think this is all for today. Pray for me to be able to teach my companion everything about Bariloche in 3 weeks so she can train. I´m excited, and I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. The family is SO important, and I am so grateful for my amazing family - you! Choose the right, be safe, and I´ll write again soon! I love you!

Love Always,

Hermana Jana Pincock

Jana dressed up for Halloween at a members home.

and one more...

:D 10.26.2009 (Email)

Mi Familia,

Hola! ¿Cómo andan? Espero que todos estén bien. Estoy bien acá. :o) Thanks for your letters always. It´s good to hear about what´s happening there at home.

Well, where to start out with this week. Last Monday we went to see some waterfalls here in Bariloche. I brought my camara and everything to send pictures, but it turns out I can´t here. Maybe next week. Sorry!Anyway, it was very pretty and it was a very nice day.

Oh, this was a bummer... Hna. Porter realized last Monday that she didn´t know where her ¨wallet¨was with her credit cards (from home and from the mission). Nowhere to be found. She only had 150 pesos left in cash, that she had taken out before. She stuck her money in her pocket as we went to the waterfalls. When we got back from the waterfalls, her money that was once in her pocket was nowhere to be found either. :o( Poor girl. But I still have a little bit of money, so we should be able to get by for the week. :D

Yesterday as we walked into church, I was very surprised to walk in and see several blondes sitting there on the church benches! It turns out that this family lived here like 37 years ago. He came here for work, and ended up being branch president. One of the sons was born here, so he wanted to come and see what it´s like. So anyway, it was pretty fun to talk to them a little bit. They want to eat lunch with us today, so hopefully we´ll be able to contact eachother. They asked us for our phone number yesterday, and we kind of just laughed. We never give our number to people. We ask for theirs, and call them. Therefore, we didn´t know our number! We gave them what we think is our number, as well as our neighbors phone number, but we haven´t heard a thing from them. So we´ll see what happens.

But it was pretty fun. The parents live in Meridian, and their kids are all spread out. It was kind of funny, because I couldn´t decide how I should greet the ladies. The mom gave me her hand to shake, and that just seemed really weird. But we don´t give ¨besos¨to everyone there in the U.S., or hugs, so I didn´t know what to do with myself! A funny situation that made me giggle, and a little nervous about coming home. :D So if someone wants to write me, and remind me what´s normal to do at home, it would be great. jaja

Well, we were able to find 7 new investigators this week, so that´s nice. In our district meeting this last week, a brother from the stake, Hno. Tapia, who is actually one of the mission counselors, came. He talked to us about his mission, and during his short mission of 2 years, he baptized 562 people. 562!!! Can you really imagine. Anyway, we talked about a couple of things that we can do, to help people enter into the waters of baptism. He talked about the importance of finding and teaching married men. Very interesting. So this week we were able to find a couple of married men that we should be able to start teaching soon. :D

We had a great lesson with Ester this week. We took her to Hna. Guacolda´s house. I don´t know if you all remember her. She is like 80, and is so great. Her testimony is SO STRONG. She reminds me of Irene from Allen. :D Anyway, we took Ester to her house, and Hna. Guacolda shared with her her conversion story, and the importance of kneeling down to pray, to ask if the Book of Mormon is true. Only through receiving an answer, through the Holy Ghost, can we really know. I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson, and the Spirit was definitely there. It´s hard, because I really feel like Ester has a testimony. I feel like we need to give her a little space, and let her make her own decisions. I don´t want her to do anything because Hna. Porter and I want her to do it - whether it be go to church, read the Book of Mormon, or even be baptized - but because SHE FEELS the desire deep down in her heart. I don´t want to convince or obligate anyone into doing anything. It doesn´t work that way. So we´ll see what happens.

Angélica and her daughter Pamela went to church yesterday! Yay! It was a good step for them. We taught Angélica Saturday the parable of the sower, and the difference between the four seeds. She decided that she would like to be like the fourth seed, that grows up, has strong roots, and gives forth good fruit. She understood well, and started giving more ¨fruit¨yesterday when she went to church.

We have transfers in a week. :o( I can´t believe this transfer has passed by so quickly. We´ll see what happens. I´m guessing I´ll be able to write like normal, but if not, you´ll know why...

Oh, a normal zone conference. We have interviews with the president first thing in the morning. at 8:30 we start. For like 45 minutes we have a little activity, or time to practice, with the assistants to the president. Afterwards we all go into the chapel. First one of the assistants speaks, and then two missionaries have the opportunity to go up and speak for like 5 minutes, about an assigned talk. This is always a surprise. You find out when they say your name. Then Hna. Peterson talks for a little. She´s giving her talks in spanish, even though it´s super hard for her, and I really admire her for it. Then Pres. Peterson talks for a good while, until lunch. We all eat together. After lunch the zone leaders are in charge of teaching something, which we then practice. Then the assistants teach something else, which we then have to practice as well. Then we head back to the chapel. Oh, we usually have a musical number in the morning as well. Anyway, back in the chapel, we have a short testimony meeting. Then Pres. Peterson talks again for a litle bit, and we end with that. So it goes from like 8:30 in the morning, to 5 or 5:30. They´re always very good conferences.

Well, I think this will have to be it for today. Oh, Happy Halloween everybody! I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible. I also love the book ¨Jesus the Christ¨. I have been reading it a lot lately, and I feel like I can learn so much about Jesus, and how I can become more like Him, through reading and studying this book. I am enjoying my time as a missionary, and I´ll try to improve even more as a representative of Jesus Christ. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Caballos, gatos, y viento. :D 10.19.2009 (Email)

Hola! How are you all doing? As Hna. Porter and I were talking about our week, and some of the things that have happened, we decided that a great title to our emails would be ¨horses, cats, and wind¨. To explain... I keep meaning to forget, that we randomly see horses walking around in neighborhoods about everyday. They normally have a rope tied around their necks, so I suppose it means they should be tied up somewhere. :D However, they just walk around and eat the grass. Funny if you ask me.

Another crazy thing... the other day as we were in our apt. we heard a sound that sounded like a baby crying to me. We quickly realized that it wasn´t a child, but a cat! There are these two cats that suddenly live right outside our apt. that make some interesting sounds. It´s pretty entertaining... but a little odd. Maybe they´re just hungry?

And, we have a LOT of wind here in Bariloche! The people told us to expect wind in the spring, and it´s here. It´s pretty nice though. Now days I just wear a blazer, and usually a scarf instead of wearing a coat. It´s pretty nice and I like not wearing a big bulky jacket.

Running a half marathon in March huh? It sounds kind of fun. :D Hna. Porter and I have gone running a couple of times. We have been slacking recently though for various reasons... lots of wind, Hna. Porter´s back bothering her, etc... but we should be running again in no time. And it´s getting light about 6:30 too, so that´s nice. We had a member yesterday ask us if we always run. How in the world did a member see us at 6:30 in the morning you ask? jaja Sounds fun to get in ¨running shape¨again.

So, missionary work continues to go well. Something interesting about this week... we talked to Nico and Jovita again, about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have spent a lot of time on this lesson, reminding them that there´s just one true, valid baptism in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. Anyway, we talked to Nico, who has been baptized in another religion, if he believes that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. He said that he thinks so. So he wants to prepare himself to be baptized. :D He is going to need to make a lot of changes, and we haven´t taught like any of the commandments, but we´re excited for him.

Yesterday we went to the house of Nelida, etc... and Nelida told us that they were going to move! So Friday night we called to talk to Eduardo, and he said they were moving the next day! So Saturday we stopped by, and they were packing up everything into a truck. So now Eduardo, Maríahelem, Nelida and Mario live in another area. They don´t really understand why we can´t go there to teach them, but such is life. It´s sad though. Maybe they need to be taught by other missionaries to help them progress.

Ester and Belen still live in our area though, so that´s nice. Saturday we decided that we wanted to do something to really help them feel the Spirit. So we picked four songs, and a couple of scriptures that we could read and explain in-between, and we sang. Three were from primary, and the other was ¨I stand all amazed¨. We told them to really try to feel the Spirit, and I think they did. Ester and Belen know it´s all true, but they´re really having a hard time acting. Hard.

Pablo continues to do well. This last week we had FHE with his whole family, and it went really well. We taught them the Plan of Salvation with little drawings we have and it was so good. When the kids had questions, Pablo was answering their questions. :D It made me very happy. He has progressed A LOT in his knowledge of the doctrine. Afterwards we taught them the ¨cup game¨and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Good times. Afterwards we ate pizza and empanadas with juice - a typical argetine meal. Delicious!

Pablo went to church yesterday. The lesson was on baptism, and Hna. Azocar, the teacher, asked him when he wants to be baptized. We had talked to him the other day about it as well. Anyway, he´s set on December - about the middle. We told him he needs to talk to Heavenly Father about it, and then pick a date. He´s doing great, and I have faith that Mónica will be able to be converted as well - in her time, and in Heavenly Father´s time.

Nope, we haven´t been able to teach Andrea, Catalina, and Mirta again. They weren´t there for the appt. Another day.

Oh, something interesting... a while back we were knocking doors, and found a lady. We were in the area the other day and decided to go and see if she was there. So we went, and another lady answered the door. We asked if Carmen was there, and she responded, ¨no es aquí¨ instead of ¨no ESTÁ aquí¨so we suddenly realized that this lady is not a native spanish speaker. It turns out that she´s from Ireland, and so we started talking to her in english. Number one, I realized once again that it´s very hard to switch from one language to another in a second, and that it´s hard to preach the Gospel in english! Third, it´s different to preach in my own language. She really had no interest in listening, and I remembered that rejection hurts more when I hear it in my own native language. So it was a good learning experience. Sad for her.

I read Chapter 21 in ¨Jesus the Christ¨today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I highly recommend it.

Dad, typical travel time from one area to another? A LONG TIME! We just went to one neighborhood, Dina Haupi, once, and it was like 30 minutes in bus I believe. But not including that, I would say like one and a half hours. atleast. Maybe 2 hours. Around there. The church is like 15-20 minutes from our apt. Also, Pres. Peterson usually talks in english in interviews I believe, but in meetings and everything, always in spanish. Depends.

Mom, I´ll write about a zone conference next week. Once every transfer. Usually begin at 8:30 or 9, and end at like 5:30. But I´ll write more details next week. They´re fun.

Well, the church is true. I love learning, and I love being a missionary. Oh, several ward members left to the temple in Buenos Aires yesterday. I love temples, and know that they are really houses of the Lord. We should do everything possible in order to enter the temple, and we should go often. I am SO excited to go here in a couple of months. I love the temples. Thanks for everything. I love you!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hna. Porter cut my hair last Monday. I love having short hair! Back to my hair like it was before. :D

Hola! 10.12.2009 (Email)

Mi Familia,

Hola! ¿Cómo andan? Espero que estén bien. Todo está bien acá.

Well, this week passed by really fast. I´m not sure why, but it just flew right by. Lets see, where to start...

We went bowling last Monday for preparation day. That was kind of fun. Bowling wasn´t available in Plottier or Allen, but that was actually the second time that I´ve been here in Bariloche. Good times.

Last Monday we had tried to go to a contacts house, but wasn´t there. As we passed by a house, that we had previously knocked at but not entered, we decided to clap and see if she was there. She came right out and invited us in. So we taught Andrea, her friend Marta, and her daughter Catalina. We had a good lesson. They were headed out of town, so we haven´t been able to teach them again yet, but it went well. I love teaching the Restoration.

Eduardo, Maríahelem, Nelida, and Mario are doing well. They hadn´t gone to church for THREE weeks, so Saturday we really chatted with them about their concerns, what was happening, etc... and it turned out not to be anything so serious. It was just that they are tired in the mornings, and it´s hard to get them all out of the door on time. So we then explained that they need to make a plan the night before - what time they´ll wake up, how they´ll get the little girls ready, etc... - and that they all need to help. So we made a plan together. Sunday morning when we got to church the Bishop informed us that they had already gotten there. :D Yay!

One dilemma I have had in the mission, is trying to decide whether or not investigators should take the sacrament before being baptized. It turns out that everyone has different opinions. So we´re working on it....

Pablo continues to do well. We are going to have FHE with the whole family tomorrow night. Oh, something interesting. There´s a member named Viviana here that has been very active in missionary work. It turns out that a while back she helped the sister missionaries when they were teaching Pablo´s kids. I told you two of his kids are members right? Anyway, we didn´t know that Viviana had helped with them. Anyway, we were visiting Viviana the other day and we mentioned Pablo and his amazing story. When she realized who it was, she was about in tears. When they had gone before, she said Pablo wanted nothing to do with the church. He really has had a change of heart. It´s true. Some missionaries plant the seed, and others harvest. I know that´s how it is, but sometimes it´s nice to harvest. :o)

Nico and Jovita are doing well. We´ve been teaching ¨The Gospel of Jesus Christ¨for a long time now. They always have lots of questions. For example, we spent an entire lesson the other day explaining that there is one true church, and that this one true church has God´s Priesthood Authority to act in His name and perform ordinances. The world does NOT teach that there is one true church of Jesus Christ. Good lesson though. A necessary lesson.

We had zone conference on Friday and it was so great. Hna. Hedquist and Hna. Kenney came to our apt. Thursday night and had a sleepover. It was very fun to see Hna. Hedquist again. She has progressed a lot in the last two and a half transfers. I´m proud of her.

Hna. Porter, Hna. Kenney and I sang ¨We´ll Bring the World His Truth¨while Hna. Hedquist played the piano in zone conference. It went well. I wasn´t so sure I wanted to sing in front of everyone, but Hna. Porter was pretty sure I should :D so I did it. It went just fine.

Funny things... I´m very much looking forward to a lavaropa (washer???) to wash my clothes after the mission. I was thinking about it in the morning. I usually just wash my garments by hand, but we have a semi-automatic washer in our apt. So they swish around, but then I have to take my clothes out, rinse them, and hang them up to dry. Then I drain the water out of the washer. Not so complicated really, but more complicated than the process back home!

The joke with Hna. Porter and I now days is that we don´t speak spanish or english really fluently. jaja I had my interview with Pres. Peterson the other day in english and I felt kind of funny. It´s great.

Oh, I keep meaning to say. The garbage man here. Our garbage cans are just little baskets out in the street. But they´re on top of a little pole so the dogs can´t get in the trash. So anyway, everyway the garbage man comes. But there is a garbage truck, and there are two men/boys that ride on back. They have to run to all the little baskets, grab the garbage sacks, and throw them in. At every house! So it´s quite the process, and I´m pretty sure I wouldn´t like to be a garbage man here. They are running the entire time they are at work!

Today in Argentina is ¨el día de la raza¨. I´m not so sure really what it means or what we´re celebrating, but a lot of people don´t have to work.

Well, I think that´s about it for today. I read in PMG this morning in Chapter 3 - lesson 1 ( The Restoration) specifically about the Restoration.Then I read a good part of Joseph Smith - History. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith, and what he did. He truly is one of my heroes. I know that he was a true prophet of God, called and chosen to bring back the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love you all. I love Heavenly Father, and I love my older brother, Jesus Christ.

Con Amor,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 10.05.2009 (Email)

Mi Familia,

Hola! ¿cómo están? Espero que estén bien. Todo bien acá. First off, thanks as always for the letters. A couple of responses...

I thought Hna. Porter and I might be together for three transfers because sometimes they do that when you ¨white wash¨ an area. And sure enough! We did count the stairs when we first got here. We were trying to remember the other day, and I think it´s like 230 or so. It doesn´t sound like much, but it sometimes feels like a lot as we´re going up them! We´re actually getting pretty used to the stairs now days. That´s nice. :D

Also, our picture of our apartment. Everything you can see in the picture is our apt. The tricky thing is, is that the back half is actually another apt. Does that make sense? I hope so. It´s a good little apt., and actually bigger than both my other ones.

Hallie, thanks for your little note. Very sweet.

So, I absolutely LOVED general conference! I told Hna. Porter that I think I was more excited for conference than I generally am for Christmas. So that means I was pretty excited! :D I really feel like I am ¨feasting¨on the word of God as I listen to conference. I have always loved conference, and being in the conference center, but I think I have even enjoyed it more than ever here in the mission.

I think I could write for a very long time about what I liked from conference, but just a few thoughts. It seemed to me that lots of people talked about love. They talked about love for Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and love for one another. I loved Elder Bednar´s talk that talked about how we should tell one another we love each other, and then show it! It´s especially important in family relationships. I loved Elder Uchtdorf´s talk about our love for our Heavenly Father, and how that love can grow. How we can strengthen it. Love should be the reason that we do everything. Our mission them is, ¨The Spirit is the key, Christ is the reason, Faith is the power, Obedience is the price, and LOVE is the motive.¨I like it.

I have really tried to focus on love in the mission, and especially during my time with Hna. Porter. She always talks about charity - the pure love of Christ. And she has a lot of love. I´m looking forward to having, and showing more love towards those that are around me. :o)

Lets see, what´s happening here in Bariloche Centro? We had a pretty good turn out in conference so that was great. Nico, Jovita, Andrea and Brian went. Angélica and two of her daughters - Pamela and Yamila - went as well. María Teresa and Thomás went. And Rosa. :D

Rosa´s story is a miracle. We found Rosa this week. We contacted her in the street like 2 months ago, and set an appt. When we went, she wasn´t there. We saw her later, set another appt, and she wasn´t there. So we thought, hum.... odd. Then the other day we went to the house of another contact, and the contact wasn´t there. But as we started walking, we saw Rosa walking towards us. We were super close to her house. We stopped to talk to her, and asked her to go to her house right then. And she said yes!

So we started to talk to her. She has really been struggling lately. She and her husband/parter (I don´t know if they were married) of 30 years have just recently separated. So she and her kids are really struggling. We taught part of The Plan of Salvation to her, and mostly just let her talk. We put another appt.

A couple of days later we had another appt. with her. A member, Melisa, went with us. She´s 21, and is our neighbor. It was her first experience going out with the missionaries, so she was a little nervous, but was great. Anyway, we had another appt. with her Sunday morning before conference (because it started at 1:00 here). Anyway, we invited her to conference, and she said she could go to the afternoon session. So long story short, Melisa was able to walk with her to conference, and back again to her house after. Yay! The importance of members.

I was sad that Pablo, and all their family didn´t go. Nelida, and all their family didn´t go either. :o( We´re worried about them.

Mom, you said that sometimes you feel like you don´t know how to be a missionary. I like what you or Dad said... ¨missionary work is about opening your mouth¨. We have had a lot of help from the members here, and it has made all the difference. We got a reference yesterday from a man who works at a gas station. He saw that a lady had a picture from our church in her car, so he asked her about it. He mentioned that the picture comes from our church, and offered to get her more. He did so, and mentioned the movie ¨The Living Christ¨and said that some friends of his (us) could go over to her house to watch it with her. Pretty simple, and now she has an idea of what we´re doing.

Pablo´s contact with the church all started with his family. As he was super sick, his relative gave him a priesthood blessing. Simple, but amazing.

Another ward member was getting her hair cut, and mentioned that she´s a member of the church. The lady cutting her hair said that she is also a member, but has been in-active for a long time. Her son isn´t a member. We have an appt. with her tonight.

It´s just simple things. Being willing to live the Gospel, and share our simple, but true beliefs. As we pray for opportunities, with a willingness to act as we receive promptings, we are guided to people who are ¨honestly seeking the truth¨ as someome said in conference.

Alright, now for random interesting things... I usually don´t read as we´re riding in buses, but I decided to the other day. I actually didn´t start as we were in the neighborhoods because it´s super bumpy. As we got on the main streets I started. But in a short amount of time, I was definitely ¨bus¨sick! I´m hoping this new found problem is just a problem with Argentine buses, and not with riding in normal cars. :D Luckily my bus sickness left quickly, and this was when we were ending the day. jaja

We went to another neighborhood in our area for the first time the other day. That was kind of fun. And funny. We were going to lunch, and really had no idea how we would find the house. We asked a nice lady in the street and she pointed us in the right direction. Mission adventures. You´ve got to love it.

Well, I think this is all for today. I love you all very much. Take care of yourselves, and read the scriptures and pray always. These are the things that keep our ¨spirtual hearts¨good and strong. I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! :D 09.28.2009 (Email)

My Family,

Hola! How are you all doing? I´m doing well here in Bariloche. :D First off, Mariana got baptized yesterday!!! Yay! It was wonderful. Did I mention that we decided to do it on Sunday? We always baptize on Saturdays, but the Bishop mentioned that he would like to do it Sunday, and that more members normally participate, so we decided to try it out.

It actually went super well. We basically let Mariana plan her own baptismal service. A priest from the ward baptized her, a friend and relative said the prayers, a Priest spoke, Hna. Porter and the YW President sang together ¨Cuando me bautice¨while I played the piano. The Bishop also spoke. And, the Stake President is her uncle so he came and spoke for a couple of minutes as well. And the best part of it is that her Mom and little brother went. Yay! I think it was a pretty emotional day for her Mom, but it was a super spiritual baptismal service. Very very fun. I love baptisms!

I´m glad you all liked hearing a little bit of the details of my Argentine life. I´ll try to include something fun and interesting every week.

Thanks for all the great letters. I love it. Shari, I´m glad you´re recovering and that Mom could be with you for so much time. And Dad, I´m glad you survived being without Mom for so long! AK, that´s a bummer about Matt, but I´m sure you did what needed to be done. Lisa, I hope that things work out in the hospital. It´ll work out like it´s supposed to. And Jami, I got your letter! Really good to hear from you. Grac! jaja

Oh, something exciting... We have stake conference here November 1st, and I hear the General RS President is coming! Yay! That should be very exciting. And a couple of others, but I´m not exactly sure who. I´ll keep you updated.

No, I wasn´t able to see the RS Broadcast. It was broadcasted here at 9:00 - time to be in our apt. It´s okay though. I can always read it in the conference issue in November.

I´m SO excited for general conference this next week. I hadn´t realized until the other day that it´s so soon. A couple of members were asking Hna. Porter and I yesterday how it is to be in the actual conference center. We assured them that it´s very amazing, and they are very envious for the opportunities we have there at home.

Well, investigators! Pablo is doing great. He makes me very happy. He accepts everything. He really has ¨hunger¨to learn. We taught him and Monica about Tithing the other day. We always expect a good amount of questions about tithing. But we taught them, asked him if he´s willing to pay tithing once he´s baptized and he simply said ¨sí¨. No problem for him! He´s excited because he gets to go back to work again today after not working for so long. Like 2 1/2 months from being so sick. But he got the clearance from his doctor the other day. Yesterday he, and two of his kids - Matius and Ana Paula - went to church with him. Yay!

Then we have Nico. He also went to church yesterday. He´s progressing little by little. We explained very clearly to him and Jovita the other day that they should be reading the Book of Mormon EVERY day if they want to know if this is the true church of Jesus Christ. So they´re reading much better now.

Ashelen went to church yesterday as well. She´s doing well. In Sunday School we were learning about the grain of mustard seed of faith, etc... and how this seed can grow. She asked them about their experiences as they have been learning about the Gospel, and it was so great to hear what they´re thinking. They have all had different experiences, but they have all felt a definite change. Missionary work is amazing.

Nelida, Ester and Belen didn´t go to church yesterday. :o( Pushing the baptismal date back... we´ll try to figure out how to get them to church.

We had a good lesson with Nelida and Mario the other day. They´re not ¨a couple¨ because Nelida doesn´t want to be, but they´re living together. We explained to them very clearly the Law of Chastity, and that they have to avoid the situation. Marriage, or separated. They both want to be baptized, so they have some decisions to make. It´s a tough situation for them, so we´re definitely praying for them.

Hna. Porter and I taught the RS lesson yesterday in church. It went well. We talked on the talk by President Monson in last conference ¨Be Your Best Self¨. It went really well. I´m a very big fan of team-teaching now days. To end the lesson we sang ¨Escrudiñar, Meditar, y Orar¨ (Search, Ponder, and Pray). I like singing with her, but I´m not sure about in front of all RS! jaja She assured me that I could do it, and so we did it. And singing with her makes me sound better. :D What I don´t do in the mission!

We tried to get together to play soccer with investigators the other day, and youth from the ward. We had a good turn out of youth, but only Nico and his little brother as investigators. But I think it still turned out well. And some of the youth invited friends who aren´t members. :D It was fun, but Argentines are so good! I had to learn the word for ¨nutmeg¨because it happened to me several times! Good times though. And Hna. Porter is a super good sport because she´s really not a huge fan of soccer because she has never really played. I think we´ll have a lesson where I teach her all the rules. :D

Oh, there´s like a soccer stadium super close to my apt. Yesterday there was a game, so there were lots of people going to watch the game. It´s quite the event. I would love to go to a game if they weren´t all on Sundays! It would be great to go to one on a Monday. Not sure if I´ll have such luck.

Oh, Hna. Hedquist is in my zone now! She and another Hermana are opening an area. So that´s very fun. Hna. Porter and I are excited to see her in a couple of weeks.

Buses... are always interesting. It makes me feel like I´m in Plottier again. No they´re good. Here you actually need to have a card to pay. If you have a card it´s cheaper. Like 1.75 every trip. If not, it´s 3 pesos every time. Anyway, Hna. Porter and I are trying to work up our guts to make a ¨declaration¨on the bus and sing or something. It would be really good, but we´re so nervous when we even think about it! But we´re going to do it. :D

Yesterday Hna. Porter and I were ¨clapping doors¨and she asked if I think there is even one house in all of Argentina that doesn´t have a dog. jaja Or less than five dogs. jaja I assured her that there aren´t THAT many dogs here! Well, I think that´s about everything. How´s ¨The Living Christ¨project going? I know you´ll be really blessed for doing it. I know that this life is all about learning. Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need in order to learn and progress - in order to become more like Him. He gives us tests to help us progress. I like to think about the Apostles, and how their faith was tried little by little, and their faith eventually became unbreakable. We can choose to learn from our experiences, and become a better person because of it.

Choose the right and remember that I love you!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

We're Staying Here! 09.21.2009 (Email)

Hola! How are you all doing? I hope that you´re all doing really well. Well, exciting news! We´re both staying here in Bariloche! We knew it was a possibility that we could stay here but didn´t want to get our hopes up. But sure enough. We´ll be together for another transfer. Que bueno! :D

Mariana wasn´t able to get baptized on Sunday. She was supposed to have her baptismal interview last Tuesday but couldn´t go. But, she finally talked to her Mom, and her Mom said she can do it! Yay! So it really should be this Sunday now. And I love it because we told her she could choose who she wants to speak, etc... and she chose all youth. So it should be a great baptism.

As for Nelida, Belen and Ester... they´re scheduled for Saturday / Sunday, but they didn´t go to church yesterday. So Ester has only gone two times. Hna. Porter and I feel like it would be better to wait another week and make sure they´re ready. But they don´t know that yet, so we´ll see what happens, and do our best to follow the Spirit and do what´s best for them.

Remember María Teresa and her son, Thomas? They went to church yesterday, as well as Pablo. So that was fun. Hna. Porter and I gave the lesson in Gospel Principles because the teacher was in Chile for a day or two and it went well.

Lets see, what´s something interesting that´s happening? by Lisa´s request...

Hna. Porter and I end up eating random things in our apt. because she shouldn´t eat flour. So Hna. Porter eats a large amount of cheese. She´s like a little mouse. I have been trying to cut down on my oreo in-take because I used to eat way too many oreos. :D We also drink a large amount of milk. All my latin companions thought I was so weird when they started out with me, because I love milk! But they about all converted over to my milk drinking ways.

Hna. Porter drinks a large amount of water, and so we are consequently in the bathroom a lot! Now it´s just a joke. Anytime we enter a house or the church the first thing she does is ask if she can go to the bathroom.

The mission with dogs can be interesting. We haven´t had any dramatic experiences - they´re just everywhere! But it´s kindof sad because a lot don´t have any homes. I told Hna. Porter one day that I used to look at Scotty and had decided that I could live the life of a dog. It seems pretty nice. But being here in Argentina I have changed my mind. I would not like to be an Argentine dog!

We´re getting pretty strong going up and down the stair case - often times several times a day. We can go up pretty fast now days.

Argentina is famous for eating a lot of meat. We are always eating meat. In her talk the other day Hna. Porter said that we should be careful with our meat intake. The members now tell her that they´re going to cook a delicious barbecue, invite her, and not let her eat any of the meat. Funny members.

Everytime we go to, or leave from, Nelida´s house her little girls scream ¨las hermanas!¨They´re adorable.

Hna. Porter started this thing with Nelida´s girls that she whistles in a way that sounds like birds, and then says to them, ¨where are the birds at?¨ They start looking around, above at the ceiling, and say ¨There they are!¨ So every two minutes they want one of us to make the bird noise so they can look for the birds again.

And the girls, Yoselyn and Makarena, absolutely love singing. They argue over who gets to choose the song, and they both always want to pray. They don´t like sharing our hymn books. :o)

So there are a couple of things from my daily life. I love the mission, and I love being here in Bariloche. I feel very blessed to be able to be here for at least one more transfer, and with Hna. Porter. The church is true. Jesus Christ lives, and is very aware of every detail of our lives. Read the scriptures and pray always.

Our family is eternal!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola mi familia!

Okay, the first picture is of Hna. Porter and I the night after our last zone conference. Just posing. :D

I don´t remember the order...

- Where we live! the view from the front. 519 Los Colihues.

- Hna. Porter and I with Perla, a member. We went with her to a chocolate factory before she moved away.

- A view of a little of our area. Where you can see the mountains and everything with the pretty lake. This is like one block away from our apt. And if you can imagine, there´s a large drop off right there... the famous stairs.

- last Monday a couple of us missionaries eating icecream.

- last Monday playing soccer. Good times!

Hola! 09.14.2009 (Email)

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I think I should say who I get emails from so you know if they´re getting here or not. So, thanks Dad, Mom, AK, Shari, and Lisa. Very fun to hear from all of you.

Shari, I´m glad to hear that you made it out of surgery okay. Very good to hear, and I know it was an answer to all of our prayers. I love hearing about the daily life at home. Lots to do with work and other daily responsibilities. I was reading today about the Sabbath Day in Jesus the Christ, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It talks about how the Sabbath Day isn´t a blessing that afflicts or harms us in anyway. On the contrary! Heavenly Father commands us to rest, and to learn more about Him. What better thing can we ask for than a commandment to rest? As I thought about it, maybe the Sabbath day is one of my favorite commandments. :D

Anyway, the work here is going well. A couple of you mentioned transfers. Transfers are actually in a week. Hna. Porter and I hope that we´ll be together for another transfer, so we´ll see. If not, it´s because one of us needs to be in another place. But we´re going to really enjoy this week together just in case one of us leaves next week. :o)

Yesterday was another good day at church. Saturday at lunch the Bishop asked us to prepare talks ¨just in case¨. So we prepared in about 30 or 40 minutes Sunday morning. Anyway, we both ended up speaking. I spoke on enduring to the end, and Hna. Porter on the Word of Wisdom. It was her first long talk in church in Spanish so she was a little nervous, but she did great.

We had several investigators in church again this week! Yay! Mariana, Eduardo, Maríahelen, Nelida, Mario, Ester, Belen, and Nico. Very fun. I love Gospel Principles when we have lots of people in the class! And it was perfect because the lesson was on the Ancient Church of Jesus Christ, and the things that identify the true church of Jesus Christ. I´m so excited for the investigators and the progress they are making.

Mariana continues to do well. She is scheduled to be baptized on Sunday, right after church. We have always had baptisms on Saturday, but the Bishop wants to do it this way. So we´re going to try it out and see what happens. A while back Mariana asked her mom if she could be baptized, but as of yesterday, she still hadn´t told her mom she is going to be baptized, and when. She´s so nervous to talk to her mom! But she´s determined to do it this Sunday, so we´re just praying that her mom understands. Everything is a little more complicated because she doesn´t live in our area, but we have faith that everything is going to work out like it´s supposed to. It´ll all work out.

Ester and Belen are still scheduled for September 27th. Ester is good to go, but Belen is getting a little nervous. They´re nervous about the ¨enduring to the end¨part of the baptismal covenant. And they really want to be sure that they learn and understand what they´re doing. This is great, but I have decided that this is one of the hard things about being a missionary. Trying to find a balance between having prepared investigators, and waiting too long. I want them to be prepared, but they can´t understand everything. We have a whole eternity to keep learning! If they have testimonies that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, they just need to have faith and be baptized. Then the Holy Ghost will help them be strong with temptations, and they´ll be able to endure to the end.

Pablo is still doing well. He didn´t go to church yesterday and we don´t know why. We tried to call him last night but his phone was turned off. But they assured us that they´ll pick a wedding date this week. :D His ¨wife¨is doing well, but she´s VERY hesitant to accept the Book of Mormon as the word of God. We´re working on that. As for Pablo, he has a testimony.

Pablo made a comment the other day that I really liked. We were teaching the Word of Wisdom, and they accepted it without problem. Especially after all the health problems he has recently had. Anyway, he commented that he wonders, if we as missionaries who have grown up in the church, really recognize all the changes that investigators need to make. I agreed that I probably really don´t understand. But I can promise the blessings for obeying the commandments, because I have lived them throughout my life. It was good to think about.

Have I talked much about Nico? He is evangelist ??? (Evangélico) but hasn´t gone for a good while. Anyway, we have taught him and his girlfriend for a while now. Oh, they are the ones that went to the baptism with us a while back. He went to church yesterday and I think he enjoyed it. He told us the other day that he was worried about going to church because he´s afraid that the doctrine will be different. We assured him that there is different doctrine, but that he doesn´t need to be worried. If he has a question, he can ask Heavenly Father if it´s true. But he needs to read, study it out, and then pray. If he´s willing to do his part, Heavenly Father will do His. We´ll keep helping him.

We went to another neighborhood the other day for the first time. We were hesistant to go because it´s a ways away. But as we prayed, several times, we really felt like we needed to go. There´s a much longer story, but too long to recount right now. Another day. Shortly put, we had a good experience, found some good people, and we´ll see what happens with this neighborhood ( Dina Huapi) in the future. Maybe we´ll never know why we needed to go the other day.

It´s very weird to me that I still don´t feel like I know my area super well. I had Allen memorized in six weeks. Now after being here for 3 months I still have never even BEEN to several neighborhoods. There´s plenty of work to do here.

Oh, Dad, you asked if there are Elders in our ward as well. Nope, we´re the only ones.

Alright, I think that´s it. I´m so loving being in Bariloche. I love the ward, and the people. We are seeing so many miracles and blessings here. I´m so grateful for Jesus Christ, and I know that He is guiding the church, and the missionary work in the whole world. He is our Older Brother. He lived the perfect life.

And now, an invitation! Something we are doing with the members... I want to invite each and every one of you, to read again ¨The Living Christ¨. After reading it, make a photocopy of it. Then, write on the back your testimony of Jesus Christ, and give it to someone you know, who isn´t a member.

I really feel like this is important. The world needs to know that our religion is centered in Jesus Christ. They need to understand who He is. And your personal testimony of Jesus Christ, can make a different in the life of someone else.

So will you do it? I know it´ll be a blessing for you, and the person who receives your testimony. And I´ll do it too. :D I love you all. Choose the right!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Hola! 09.07.2009 (Email)

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I am doing well. This keyboard has a couple of problems so I had to do a round about way of sending the emails. So I didnt send to gatepoc or to Aaron. But its okay, you can send the email to everyone right? And it looks like I have really bad puncuation, but what can you do?

Well, Mom and Dad, travel safe to Boise, and Shari, I hope that your surgery goes well! Im sure that it will. Prayers and the Priesthood are very powerful.

Things here are going well. First off, good news! We had several people in church yesterday! Yay! Mariana, Ester, Belen, Eduardo, Mariahelen, Pablo and his son Matius, Ashelen, and a 16 yr old boy named Facundo, who we actually met yesterday. He is a friend of a member. Church was a miracle yesterday.

Okay, more details of whats happening. Mariana is the 16 yr old who had a baptismal date for September 12th. She has been sick, so we havent been able to teach her much lately. So we had to push her baptismal date back. And we talked to the Bishop, and he wants to do the baptisms right after church on Sunday, so she will be baptized on September 20th.

Ester, Belen, and Nelida still have their baptismal dates for September 27th. (Now the 27th because it will be Sunday instead of Saturday). Nelida needs to change a couple of things, but we want to help her reach her goal to be baptized.

Ester is doing really well. She even fasted this week! She actually reminds me a lot of Hna. Riquelme. Kind of funny I know. Last night when we were with them we had them teach us the Plan of Salvation, and they did really well! It makes me happy because I feel like they are really learning. Ester has a huge fascination with learning about our souls (or spirits) and what we should do to strengthen them. I think its great.

Do you remember Cecilia and Sebastian? We had taught them a little bit at the beginning of our time here in Bariloche. Anyway, I felt bad before because I didnt feel like we had been able to really teach a good lesson about the Restoration. Or atleast everything about the Restoration. We were finally able to teach her this last week. I dont know that shes really interested in acting, or really knowing if its true, but I atleast feel at peace now that she has had a good opportunity to accept it. She felt the Spirit. And now its up to her.

We had a great zone conference this week as well. Maybe I will try to send a picture of it here in a couple of minutes. Anyway, we talked about the doctrine of Christ, and if we really understand it. So what is the doctrine of Christ? It is all over in the Book of Mormon. Its the Gospel of Jesus Christ - faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end. If we really understand this, and that these are real requirements, our eagerness to share the Gospel would be different. We talked about the people who really understand (get it) the doctrine of Christ. We talked about Nephi, John the Baptist, President Monson, and most importantly, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And then the real question is... Do we understand? And if so, how can we show it? It really made me think.

The time here is passing so quickly. We are already starting the 5th week of this transfer. Crazy.

Well, I think this is pretty much what is happening here. I hope that you are all doing well. The Church is true. Jesus Christ lives, as does our loving Father in Heaven. They love us, and I love them. The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price contain the word of God. We have to hang onto them, and their teachings, with all of our might. If we do so we will find that we are happy, and we will one day find ourselves in the Celestial Kingdom. I love you all, and look forward to hearing from you again soon!

Love Always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock

Reese's Puffs! :D

Hola! How are you all doing? First off, I´m glad you made it back from the hiking adventure. It sounds like it was a good time. And Shari and Orrin, it sounds like you´re all into your house great. How fun to have a new house! And, AK, Ryan, and Nyah, thanks for the fun package! I´m thoroughly enjoying the candy, and Reese´s Puffs (you know the way to my heart!) and I´ll try not to eat it all by myself so I can run Ragnar 2010. jaja.

Ryan, Happy Birthday! One year old and wiser! Pumpkin squares? Jami, if you read this, Happy Birthday this next week as well. :o)

First off, some business... I bought some souveenirs (sp?) last week. Like $50 worth I believe. The lady said that she ran my card as debit, so I hope. But today, I was talking to a store worker, and he said that if I´m a foreigner, everything will be run as credit. So you might want to check that out. It´s weird because the ATM´s here don´t want to accept my debit card. I don´t know why. But anyway, so if I use my card, it seems as though I may have to do it as credit. Let me know what you all think, and if my last week´s spending was really debit or credit.

Also, I just sent the recorder that Lisa and Jordan sent back home. I was going to send it to Lisa and Jordan, but then realized that I don´t know your new address! Therefore, I sent it home. I just sent the recorder and a couple of my favorite treats with it. :D

Things here are going well. We changed Ester´s baptismal date to September 26th. She´s doing really well with about everything ( the commitments) except for the sabbath day - going to church. So we told her yesterday that she has to go to church for the next three weeks or she won´t be able to get baptized the 26th. So hopefully she´ll be able to go to church.

Alright, so now Nelida, Belen, and Ester all have baptismal dates for September 26th. I so hope that they all make it to their baptismal dates. It´s going to require a lot of faith and some changes for them, but they can do it. Ester told us yesterday that she has been complying 100% with the Word of Wisdom since we taught her last week. :D Yay!

The Talent Show went well on Saturday. I felt like we spent a good amount of time trying to get everything prepared and ready to go, but I think it was worth the effort. Hna. Porter and I were first. I played the duet of ¨Amazing Grace, As Now We Take the Sacrament, and How Great Thou Art¨as she sang. She did very well, and I just had a few minor errors. :o)

Then we just had a couple other little things. A family here in our ward has a little band so they played. A girl and her friend sang a song. All in english so that was a little crazy. The Bishop´s little brother has a band so they played as well. Two little girls ( 2 and 3 yrs old) danced so that was cute. It went well.

And we had a good turn out! Members did very well inviting people who aren´t members. Several people came and I think everyone really enjoyed it. And it was the first ward activity in a LONG time. And we had investigators come as well: Pablo, Mónica and their family (Flia. Barientos), Ashelen, and Angélica and her daughters. Pretty good. :D

Mariana is still doing well. We weren´t able to teach her as much this week as we would have liked, and she didn´t go to church, so we don´t know for sure what is happening. But we´re going to do everything possible to help her be baptized on September 12th still. It´ll all work out like it´s supposed to.

The work continues to progress. I can´t believe we´re already half-way done with this transfer. The time is just flying by.

I´m reading in Acts and I´m thoroughly enjoying it. It has been quite a while since I read Acts and I´m loving it! The Apostles were absolutely amazing. They were such powerful teachers. I love hearing about what they did to preach the Gospel. Miracles. And they were so in tune with the Spirit. I want to be more like them.

I was readying about Paul this morning in Acts and it made me think a lot about Joseph Smith. He and his companion, Bernabé I think but I don´t remember how it is in english, (Barnabus?) were teaching and the people were pretty upset. So the magistrates ordered the people to beat them, so they beat them with stripes. Afterwards, they put them in prison. So I tried to put myself in this situation, and wondered how I would be feelings at this moment. So that night in prison, they started praying and singing praises, and the other prisoners heard them. Amazing... praying and singing praises in that situation! So then the prison walls started to shake and basically fell down. The prison guard was worried that his prisoners had escaped, so he was about to take his own life. But Paul stopped him, and said not to worry, they were still there. And so they preached to him, his whole household, and they were all baptized in the church of Jesus Christ.

I thought that was such an amazing story! It made me want to be more like them. They took advantage of every opportunity to preach, and did it without fear. I love it.

Well, I need to go. I love you all very much and appreciate your love and support. Choose the Right!

Love always,
Hermana Jana Banana Pincock